Alphabet Inc-CL C (GOOG.US) will ask Samsung Electronics to supply 5G basebands for its next-generation flagship Pixel smartphone, according to people familiar with the matter. This marks Samsung Electronics' first victory in the US market dominated by Qualcomm Inc.
Alphabet Inc-CL C said earlier this month that he had designed independent processor chips for his Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro high-end phones, thus ending his total dependence on Qualcomm Inc. However, Qualcomm Inc will still supply chips for low-end Pixel 5A.
According to media reports, Samsung will contract Alphabet Inc-CL C's own chips. In addition, Samsung will also provide 5G baseband technology for the Pixel 6 series of phones, according to two people familiar with the matter. Samsung's move is crucial because it is one of only three companies capable of producing 5G basebands, the other two being Qualcomm Inc and MediaTek. Samsung uses its own Exynos baseband technology in its flagship phones for Asia and Europe, but the US version of its flagship phone has always relied on Qualcomm Inc baseband.
Samsung said its new baseband technology could support millimeter wave networks, while Alphabet Inc-CL C said its new phones would support millimeter wave networks as in previous versions, but neither company directly commented whether they were working together to develop new Pixel flagship smartphones.
Kevin Krewell, chief analyst at TIRIAS Research, said winning Alphabet Inc-CL C's Pixel business gave Samsung the opportunity to demonstrate its chip manufacturing technology to the mobile phone industry for the first time. It is understood that the mobile phone industry has long been cautious about buying key components from competitors. Samsung Electronics has never sold 5G baseband chip technology to outside companies before.
It is worth mentioning that Qualcomm Inc said in a statement that because the grass-roots level is not enough to support millimeter waves in mobile phones and needs to rely on other chips, the company still maintains a leading position in technology.